ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the environmental impacts and benefits of the technologies in comparison to conventional petroleum and electricity. It aims to include life cycle assessment (LCA) as a case study, which took place at a wastewater treatment plant located in Saint Paul, MN USA that integrated various technologies of biofuel/bioenergy production to recycle and reuse waste streams. Many studies have conducted LCAs to assess the environmental performance of wastewater-driven algal biofuels. When municipal wastewater is collected and sent to a centralized municipal wastewater treatment facility, it goes through a series of treatment processes to be cleaned and purified. To reduce the waste generated, a variety of technologies have been developed and applied in wastewater treatment facilities. Biosolids are all solid streams discharged out of wastewater treatment facilities. Algae cultivation has been examined using various wastewaters, such as municipal wastewater, industrial wastewater, and animal manures.
